Snapshot News – New sounds, An Attribute System and Resource Packs!

It’s time for another round of snapshot news. Mojang has been busy with Minecraft the last couple of weeks so along with the usual patch of bugfixes we have a couple of new additions. Villagers and horses now have sounds (thanks, C418!) and we mark the beginning of two new very important systems – an attribute system and a resource pack system that will soon replace texture packs and is a step towards the long-awaited Mod API! Read on for the details, it is fascinating stuff…

Ok to get the simple stuff out of the way first, villagers and horses now have sounds, courtesy of C418. Villagers got a some nasal-sounding “hmmmm”s while horses got some semi-realistic sounds that fit the game perfectly. Like their visual design, the villager’s sounds are very Squidward-y. You can check them out in this video:

While that is the latest addition, there are some new features from the weeks before we haven’t discussed, like Hardened Clay. Clay can now be painted (like wool), giving pixel artists in Minecraft a whole new world to play around in. A coal block was also added for easier storage of all that coal you dug up when what you were really looking for were diamonds, but you just couldn’t leave it there because at least that way, you have it. A new UI was also added for horses to control their inventory and equipped armor.

Finally, the long rumored Mod API is making a huge stride with the implementation of the new Resource Pack system. This system replaces the texture pack system. The new resource packs will allow you to also add sounds and will, in the long run, be used to apply mods. The system allows for multiple packs to be activated, allowing you mixing of sounds and textures from more packs. It isn’t quite done yet so you can’t try it, but it will be done soon.

That’s it for your Minecraft snapshot news today. You can get the latest snapshot here: